Famous Goofs by Famous Players

[Ole_Tom_Morris]

I wanna take the heat off Dustin Johnson. It's easy to make a mistake, even when your name is not Michelle Wie. :)

I don't remember the following very well, and didn't bother to look it up in the books. Maybe you folks will pitch in and help me along.

There was the guy who lost the British Open because he signed -- was it an incorrect scorecard he signed or the wrong one? It was joked that he was blinded by the attire of his playing partner, Jesper Parnevik.

Di Vicenzo lost one the same way, signing an incorrect scorecard. Which major tournament was it?

There was the guy who, at--was it Medinah?--did not know that some gravelly, flat spots were technically hazards and grounded his club. Who was that?

Who was it who, a couple of years ago, addressed the ball with her putter solidly on the green only to have the ball roll spontaneously, thereby losing a stroke. Was that Michelle? Moral, if the green is hard and hilly, don't be in a hurry to ground your putter and address the ball. And keep it marked as long as you can.

Maybe you can remember some more blunders.

Now me, I always add a couple of strokes to my card, figuring I forgot some, somewhere. "And then there's plus two for forgetfullness." But technically, isn't adding some on for good measure signing an incorrect scorecard and an automatic DQ?

[colin007]

there was Craig Stadler getting penalized for putting a towel on the ground to kneel on so he could hit from under a tree. which is bullshit.

and divecenzo was in the masters, i believe '68? and he signed for a higher score than he actually shot. which is also bulshit. i would not have accepted the win if i were the one awarded it for his mistake. i would not have been beaten fair and square.

[JWL1957]

I remember Craig hitting that shot. That was the most BS ruling I ever seen.

[Jay-Bird]

Building a stance is CLEARLY not allowed. Stadler was wrong. NO BS. Just stupid.

[purduegolfer]

Building a stance is CLEARLY not allowed. Stadler was wrong. NO BS. Just stupid.

What was stupid was the ruling came a day after IIRC and he got DQ for signing the scorecard inncorrectly

[$2 Nassau]

What a pansy

[$2 Nassau]

Found these online. There was more (dating back to 1920's) but these are the more recent ones:

Craig Stadler, 1987 Andy Williams Open



The situation: While playing a shot from his knees in dewy grass on the 14th hole in the third round, Stadler placed a towel beneath him to avoid getting his pants wet.



The penalty: Rule 13-3/2 seems to have been built for this specific violation: "Q. A player's ball was under a tree in such a position that he found it expedient to play his next stroke while on his knees. Because the ground was wet, the player placed a towel on the ground at the spot where his knees would be situated so that the knees of his trousers would not get wet. He then knelt on the towel and played his stroke. Was the player subject to penalty under Rule 13-3 for building a stance? A. Yes."



The result: Stadler completed the rest of his third round and the entire final round, ostensibly finishing in second place before being informed that he had been disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard after not giving himself a penalty the previous day.






Lee Janzen, 1998 NEC World Series of Golf



The situation: On the 17th hole in the first round, Janzen's putt hung on the lip of the cup. After he watched it for more than the allotted 10 seconds, the ball finally dropped into the hole.



The penalty: Janzen signed for a 3 but later learned it should have been a 4 because he didn't mark his ball -- or tap it in -- within the given time frame; TV replays later showed the ball dropped after hanging on the edge for 19 seconds.



The result: Without the penalty stroke, Janzen was guilty of signing an incorrect scorecard and was disqualified.





Tiger Woods, 1999 Phoenix Open



The situation: Woods hit a tee shot well left and found his ball resting directly behind a boulder. He enlisted a handful of gallery members to move the large rock, giving him a clear shot at the green.



The penalty: Believe it or not, there was none because that boulder was deemed a loose impediment. Rule 23-1/3 states: "Q. May spectators, caddies, fellow-competitors, etc., assist a player in removing a large loose impediment? A. Yes."



The result: Woods did not receive a penalty and went on to finish third in the tournament.






Ian Woosnam, 2001 British Open



The situation: After completing his opening hole -- a par 3 on which he made birdie -- Woosnam stepped to the second tee box only to have this exchange with his caddie, Miles Byrne: "You're going to go ballistic," Byrne told him. "Why?" Woosnam asked. "We've got two drivers in the bag," the caddie replied.



The penalty: Rule 4-4a/6 states: "Q. A arrives at the 1st tee, counts his clubs and confirms that he is carrying 14. He then removes his driver from his golf bag, leaves the bag beside the tee and checks in with the starter. At this point, X, a player in another match or group, by mistake puts his putter in A's golf bag, which was identical to X's bag. A then drives from the 1st tee. During play of the 1st hole, A discovers that X's club has been put in his (A's) golf bag. Does A incur a penalty for starting the round with more than 14 clubs? A. Yes."



The result: Woosnam fired the extra driver into a nearby tree, gave himself a 2-stroke penalty and soon fell out of contention in the tournament.






Michelle Wie, 2005 Samsung World Championship



The situation: In her first pro tournament, Wie took a penalty drop from an unplayable lie in the third round. One day later, a reporter revealed to officials that he believed the drop was illegal because it placed her closer to the hole.



The penalty: After reviewing tape, officials found that Wie had indeed taken an illegal drop.



The result: As the round was already complete and Wie had signed her scorecard, she was disqualified for taking an incorrect score.








Tiger Woods, 2006 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational



The situation: On the ninth hole of the second round, Woods hit a 9-iron onto the clubhouse roof at Firestone.



The penalty: After much consternation -- because the clubhouse was not deemed to be out of bounds and officials learned the ball had been picked up and removed by a clubhouse worker -- Woods took a drop on the line the ball had traveled.



The result: From the relief point, Woods made bogey, shooting 64 for the day. He won the tournament in a playoff two days later.






Mark Wilson, 2007 Honda Classic



The situation: In the second round, Wilson's caddie, Chris Jones, divulged to a playing partner the loft of a hybrid club Wilson had just used.



The penalty: Rule 8-1 states that no advice may be given by anyone other than the player's own caddie.



The result: Aware of this rule, Wilson slapped himself with a 2-stroke penalty. He went on to win the tournament in a playoff.

[colin007]

Building a stance is CLEARLY not allowed. Stadler was wrong. NO BS. Just stupid.

isnt building a stance for the purpose of artificially improving your footing? he wasnt improving his footing. he was keeping his pants clean. i would submit that the towel could actually have made it less stable, especially if it was folded.

[Ole_Tom_Morris]

Wasn't Stadler's situation later codified as Decision 13-3/2, Decisions on the Rules of Golf?

Was Stadler stupid? I don't think so. There is the decision that you can't stand on a mat on the teeing ground, and the general rule that you can't build a stance, but it is not all that obvious that you can't kneel on a towel to protect your pants. I mean, standing on a mat is clearly for increasing traction on the ground or for aiding your swing. Kneeling on a towel business is a matter of cosmetics, of dress, really. It did not have to do with helping Stadler swing his club.

Edit: I don't know the date of 13-3/2. It's in my 1990 "Decisions." I assumed it got into the decisions because of the 1987 Stadler incident. But if it was there before, then, yeah, Stadler shoulda looked at his rule book.

ADDED: Moving a large boulder that is part of the landscape is a lot like pruning a tree or bush to get a shot. Bad decision. A boulder is part of the design, part of the landscape. Unless it's an itsy-bitsy rock that washed onto the golf course. I can imagine a golfer out at one of those desert courses in the SW USA taking along drills and dynamite in the bag just in case his ball lands behind a boulder. :)

[$2 Nassau]

isnt building a stance for the purpose of artificially improving your footing? he wasnt improving his footing. he was keeping his pants clean. i would submit that the towel could actually have made it less stable, especially if it was folded.

Footing/stance..it's all the same whether standing, kneeling or whatever.

The rule has to be black and white, you either allow it or you don't. Someone else could be standing in some mud, bring over some dry dirt and build a nice area to stand in and then claim he didn't want to get his shoes dirty. The possibilities are endless, that's why you can't allow anything like that at all.

[colin007]

so then why do we allow spikes on our shoes? thats improving a stance. what my point is, the towel didnt improve his stance. at least IMHO.

[Ole_Tom_Morris]

An honest answer: spikes on shoes are legal because they are sold to the profit of the golf industry. Towels are of no particular profit to Titleist, Nike, or Calloway & Co. If there were a profit in golf-towels coupled with a little tradition of their use, everybody would be required to stand on a towel while hitting a ball. Golf and golfers exist to consume golf products. Golf magazines and TV programs don't exist to inform golfers, they exist to bring advertising to a target audience.

Hey, we're wasting time on here. Need to get out and consume more balls and clubs and green time. The industry needs us!

[Shindig]

Tiger Woods, 1999 Phoenix Open

Worth noting: this is no longer the rule. I believe you're now limited to yourself, your caddy, fellow competitors, and their caddies. Rocco and his caddy declined that day, but the gallery was a legal helper.

Mark Wilson, 2007 Honda Classic

Also the name of the rules official who explained DJ's penalty to the TV. I'd like to add Stewart Cink at the '08 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He was in a fairway bunker to hit his approach (I forget if his ball was in the bunker as well). He hit his approach into a greenside bunker. Stepped out, raked (or his caddy raked) the fairway bunker. Continued on his way, realized the next day he didn't add the penalty -- he raked a bunker while his ball was in one. Self-DQ. USGA/R&A; later made an interpretation that this behavior should be allowed.

[iacas]

IIRC, De Vicenzo lost the right to play off for the Masters. He wouldn't have won it outright. Goalby won it, but would have played off and might very well have won it anyway.

[J_Bone]

I'd like to add Stewart Cink at the '08 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He was in a fairway bunker to hit his approach (I forget if his ball was in the bunker as well). He hit his approach into a greenside bunker. Stepped out, raked (or his caddy raked) the fairway bunker. Continued on his way, realized the next day he didn't add the penalty -- he raked a bunker while his ball was in one. Self-DQ. USGA/R&A; later made an interpretation that this behavior should be allowed.

Huh?? If you hit your ball into a different bunker, you can't rake the bunker you just hit from because it's in a bunker else where?